Michael Eldon Greenberg

Dr. Michael Greenberg is the Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor and Head of the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and a Professor of Neurology at Children’s Hospital Boston. Our interactions with the outside world trigger changes at neuronal synapses that are critical for brain development and higher cognitive function. Greenberg’s research has focused on the identification of a genetic program that is activated by neuronal activity, the signal transduction mechanisms that carry the activity-dependent signal from the membrane to the nucleus, and the identification of regulators of this experience-dependent process that affect synapse development and plasticity. He is particularly interested in activity-dependent processes whose dysfunction can lead to the development of human diseases of cognition such as autism and mental retardation. Using global screening techniques to identify proteins whose activity is regulated by stimuli such as membrane depolarization and calcium influx in neurons, the Greenberg lab has identified a number of genes that regulate processes such as dendritic arborization, spine development, protein interactions, local control of protein translation at the synapse by micro-RNAs, and the relative number of excitatory and inhibitory synapses. Many disorders of cognition are correlated with changes in the number of synapses or an imbalance between excitation and inhibition in the nervous system. Thus, by developing our understanding of the activity-dependent mechanisms that govern synaptic development Greenberg seeks to reveal how the deregulation of this process leads to neurological diseases. Greenberg’s accolades include the McKnight Award for technical advances in neuroscience, the Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience, and membership in the National Academy of Sciences in addition to his American Academy of Arts and Sciences membership. He is the author of more than 165 articles in prominent journals such as Cell, Nature, and Neuron.